Police: Man arrested after leaving his son at Wal-Mart

NORWALK — A New York man was arrested Thursday night after he allegedly dropped his young son off at Wal-Mart and then took off to Stamford.

Police were dispatched to Wal-Mart at 680 Connecticut Ave., at 7:29 p.m. on a report from security staff that a 9-year-old boy in the store had asked for help contacting his father after the man had dropped him off there.

The boy told police that he had been with his father earlier and that the man had walked him into the front entrance of the store and told him to “walk around” and he “would be back.”

The child did not know how long he had been in the store before he walked up to the customer service desk and asked to have his father called.

The boy was in the store’s loss prevention office for 45 minutes before police were able to reach the father — identified as 45-year-old Naushad Datey — by phone.

Police say that Datey told them that he was on his way back to the store and was near Exit 12 on Interstate 95.

When Datey arrived at Wal-Mart, he told police that he had been having car trouble and was unable to find a mechanic in Norwalk so he drove to Stamford. He said that he dropped the boy off at the store because he didn’t want him to be in the car if it broke down, police said.

Police said that the boy’s mother was contacted and she came to Wal-Mart to pick up her son. The parents are divorced and Datey has visitation rights.